Components of the Solar SystemIt was formed five thousand millions years ago from gas and dust of a nebula.

- A medium-sized star.

- Planets

- Dwarf planets

- Satellites

- Asteroids

- Comets

The Sun The Sun is a huge sphere of gas. It is mostly made up of hydrogen

(74%) and helium (24%). It is 4,500 million years old It takes 8 minutes for its light to

reach the Earth. 98.6% mass of the Solar System.

• Radius: 695,000 km• Mass: 333,000 Earths! • Surface Temperature: 5,500 °C• Core Temperature: 15,500,000 °C

THE PLANETS AND THEIR ORBITS

There are 8 planets in the Solar System that are classified into two groups: the inner or

terrestrial planets and the outer or gas giant planets.

All the planets experience two different movements:

- Rotation on their own axis.- Revolution around the Sun where the planets describe closed paths, called orbits.

Mercury Smallest planet and closest to

the Sun. No satellites. Lots of craters on its surface. It has no atmosphere so the

day and night temperatures vary widely; temperatures reach 450°C during the day and at night, the temperature drop to -170°C.

• It has a very long day due to its slow rotation, which is equal to 59 Earth days.

Mercury Earth Size Comparison

Venus Similar size and density to

Earth. No satellites. Atmosphere composed of

carbon dioxide and thick clouds of drops of sulphuric acid.

Surface temperatures are a constant 500°C, the highest surface temperature in the solar system.

Venus rotates in the opposite direction to other planets in the Solar System.

• One day in Venus lasts more than one Earth year

Thick cloud atmosphere coveringVenus

Mountain ranges on Venus taken with Radar.

EarthIt is the 5th planet in size of the Solar

System and the biggest of the inner planets.

Radius: 6,400 kmMass: 5.8 x 1024 kgTemperature: -80 to 60 °C, average

surface temperature is 15ºCDistance from Sun: 146 million km (1 AU)

Surface is 70% covered by water.Atmosphere is made up of oxygen (21%)

and nitrogen (78%).One natural satellite (the Moon)Over 2200 manmade satellites in orbit

Mars Very similar to our planet; its

surface resembles the Earth´s rocky deserts.

Thin atmospheric layer with 95% carbon dioxide.

Surface temperatures are between 20ºC and -80ºC.

Has the highest mountain in the Solar System – the Olympus Mons Volcano (25km high, equal to 2.5 times the Everest).

• It has two small rocky satellites: Phobos and Deimos.

Recent discoveries suggest the possibility of water in the surface of Mars, between 1.5 and 3%.

Size comparison of the Inner Planet

As seen in the images, Venus and the Earth are quite similar in size.

Asteroid Belt

• Located between Jupiter and Mars.

• Because the strong gravitational force of Jupiter they never merged to form a planet.

Ceres – a dwarf planet in the belt of asteroids

Gaspro – a 400km-long asteroid

Jupiter Gas giant made up of 90% hydrogen, 10% helium, with a rocky core.

It´s the biggest planet in the Solar System (mass is equal to 318 Earths)

Great Red Spot – a storm that is located in the southern part of the planet with a distinctive shape. It has 4 large satellites which were discoverded by

Galileo Galilei and 60 small ones.

Time-lapse animation from Voyager I on approach to Jupiter.

Io – The most volcanically active object in the Solar System.

Europa – ice-covered moon that may harbour life.

Saturn

Gas giant made of 75% hydrogen, 25% helium, with a rocky core and liquid hydrogen mantle.

Second biggest planet in the solar system. It has a spectacular ring system that consists of 9

continuous rings made of ice, small rocks and dust particles. Has over 34 known moons, the biggest one called Titan. •

Saturn’s Rings.

Mimas – a small moon of Saturn

Uranus Gas giant composed

of hydrogen, helium and methane.

Has more than 25 satellites

It is very far from the Sun, so it is a frozen planet: surface temperature of -214°C

Coldest atmosphere in the Solar System.

It also has a ring system but it is not as big as Saturn´s .

Neptune Furthest away planet

from the Sun. It is the planet with the fastest winds.

Gas giant made of hydrogen, helium and methane.

It is also a frozen planet, with very low surface temperatures, but the temperature inside Neptune is hot because it releases heat.

14 satellites, Triton is very large.

• Distance from Sun: 4500 million km (30 AU)

Kuiper Belt

• 30 to 55 AU• Like the

asteroid belt but consisting of debris made of ices.

• Biggest bodies are Pluto and Eris.

Pluto Downgraded from ‘planet’ to ‘dwarf planet’ in 2006

Smaller than the Moon Has 3 known satellites.